How Is Brutus A Tragic Hero

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The character of Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is by far the most complex. As a prominent hero, his death at the end is truly a tragedy. However, were it not for his fatal flaw, the overall outcome of the play may have ended more favorably for Brutus, Cassius, Caesar, and the other citizens of Rome. Throughout the work, Brutus’ flaw is evident and drives the plot in a direction that determines the story’s ending. Were Brutus marked by different moral values or a less respectable position, the conspiracy may have never taken place. And had he been able let go of some of his beliefs after Caesar’s death, he could have avoided battle and killing himself. All of the decisions that Brutus makes are guided by what he presumes to be honorable, and Brutus is under the erroneous impression that his comrades share his own ethical conduct and way of…show more content…
He refuses to partake in any action that would cause him to be ashamed. Because he stays so true to his own standards, he falsely assumes that every other Roman acts the same way he does. Before his suicide, Brutus proclaims, “I found no man but he was true to me.” Yet Cassius manipulated him by writing him letters supposedly sent by the Roman people, and Brutus failed to see through this trick. He was blinded to the perception of the subtle hints that would raise suspicions in other man. Additionally, Brutus justifies the killing of Caesar by making it into a sort of grand, noble act, as if it is his duty to value saving his country over Caesar’s friendship. He warns the men beforehand not to make the assassination into a bloodbath, reminds them that their motive is for the good of Rome, and bathes his hands in Caesar’s blood as a mark of pride for their respectable accomplishment. Brutus’ idealism hurts him because, unbeknownst to him, the others murder Caesar because of vanity, jealousy, or an appetite for

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